Gallup: 51% Say Government Should Ensure Healthcare Coverage

U.S. adults are slightly more likely to say it is the responsibility of the federal government to ensure all Americans have health insurance coverage (51%) than to say it is not the government's responsibility (47%). The percentage who believe the government has that obligation is up six percentage points from 2014. This year marks the first time since 2008 that a majority of Americans say the government is responsible for making sure all citizens have health insurance.

The percentage who feel the government should have this responsibility has increased across most key demographic groups since 2014, including lower-income Americans (+13 points), 50- to 64-year-olds (+12 points), Democrats and independents who lean Democratic (+9 points) and whites (+8 points). Across three of the country's four regions, this view has increased by seven points or more; the South is the only region where there has been no such change.

...Although U.S. adults lean toward the view that the government should ensure all Americans have healthcare coverage, they do not endorse a government-run system, which exists in most other Western nations. When given a choice, 55% say they prefer a system mostly based on private insurance, as the U.S. has now, while 41% would prefer a government-run system. The percentage favoring a private system is down from 61% last year.